# Anakin Skywalker, Dictatorship and Democracy in Star Wars - Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2117433675000303861 - Source account: [@StephenKentX](https://x.com/StephenKentX) - Source language: English - Duration: 3:29 - Published: 2026-11-03 - Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars ## Transcript [0:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars) Boy on the left is Anakin Skywalker. He's gonna become Darth Vader in just a couple of years. [0:04](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=4) This is his love interest, Senator Amidala. [0:06](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=6) They're having lunch, and she picks up that he does not much care for her profession, politics. [0:12](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=12) So she asks him, "How would you like to see things done, if you're so smart?" And he says, "Well, if I could design a system, it would be one where the politicians get together, they discuss what's in the best interest of the people, and then they do it." And she laughs and she's like, "That's what we do. [0:28](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=28) The problem is that people don't always agree." [0:31](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=31) To which Anakin says, "Well, then they should be made to." "Who's gonna make them? [0:35](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=35) You?" "No, not me. Someone wise. Just someone else who can do this." [0:43](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=43) And here's the kicker. I mean, Padmé then says to him, "Well, that sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship." And he just laughs and he says, "If it works." I wanna pose a question to you, which is, think of your country. [0:55](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=55) How certain are you that all the people around you at any given time, think your family, your friends, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, how certain are you that they really buy into what we're doing here? That they naturally support and love democracy? [1:12](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=72) Because what we do here is actually really, really hard. [1:16](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=76) Uh, you don't get what you want all the time. [1:18](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=78) Power is changing hands every four years. It's kind of ugly. [1:21](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=81) Even if you win, you still don't get everything that you want. [1:25](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=85) It's really, really hard. But it's also beautiful because we know what the alternative is. [1:32](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=92) Star Wars is speaking to this, if you're looking for that. [1:36](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=96) The lightsaber battles are cool. The, the space battles are awesome. [1:39](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=99) But at its heart is a story of liberty versus control. [1:43](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=103) I used to be certain, I really did, I used to be certain that 80% of peop- ... You like this, don't you? [1:51](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=111) Uh, I used to be certain that 80% of people around me at any given time really supported and loved democracy and self-governance. [2:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=120) And then COVID-19 and this guy happened, and then I realized 80% of people around me at any given time might not actually support democracy and self-rule. [2:13](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=133) They might only support it, like Anakin Skywalker, if everybody is comfortable, if nobody ever dies who shouldn't, if they feel safe, if things are going well, or if they are winning. [2:28](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=148) And if they're not winning, you know what they will do. [2:32](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=152) They will leak Supreme Court decisions to the public so they can intimidate justices. They will threaten to expand the Court. [2:38](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=158) They will, like Justin Trudeau, they will monitor or freeze bank transactions for your political contributions. [2:46](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=166) They will just change the rules of the game. [2:48](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=168) You see this all the time, every time you turn on the news. [2:52](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=172) In Star Wars case, they literally just built a Death Star to force unity at gunpoint. That's what the whole thing was about. [3:01](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=181) And most of you know that this is why our system was designed the way that it is. [3:06](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=186) Our founders were wary of this. They knew that we were not angels, and that we needed hurdles, checks and balances, all these things to slow down our dormant totalitarian instincts. [3:17](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=197) It's just sort of built into human nature to want things to be safe and to go well. [3:22](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/XE0tsTvCWnow/en/anakin-skywalker-dictatorship-and-democracy-in-star-wars?t=202) But I just can no longer assume that the majority of our neighbors do think this way